Continued Expansion and a Decade of Political and Social Change: 1960-1969

History

In the 1960s, District and Fullerton Junior College (FJC) administrators continued with post-World War II building expansion plans with the goal of finally having all college courses taught on campus. Because of a lack of classroom space, many courses, such as speech, music, and home economics, remained on the Fullerton Union High School campus. Still using the architectural design services of William H. Taylor and George S. Conner (Taylor and Conner), a number of new buildings were constructed during this decade, including an Auto Shop, the Applied Arts Building, and a Music/Theatre facility. In late 1965, Superintendant Ernest G. Lake suddenly announced that Taylor and Conner, who had been FJC architects since the 1950s, were to be replaced by William E. Blurock and Associates. After graduating from the USC School of Architecture in 1947, Blurock had moved to Orange County where he initially designed homes. Blurock eventually earned a local as well as international reputation as a designer of elementary, junior high, and high schools (including Troy High School), working on 32 college campuses as well. Blurock and his firm would also design other notable buildings throughout Orange County: the City of Santa Ana Civic Center Mall, the Sherman Foundation Gardens and Roger’s Gardens in Corona del Mar, the Marriott Hotel in Newport Beach, the Allergan Pharmaceutical’s corporate headquarters in Irvine, the Pacific Amphitheatre in Costa Mesa, and the Orange County Performing Arts Center. He was a founding member of the Orange County Institute of Architects and a president of the California State Board of Architects. Blurock was hired by the Board of Trustees to design Cypress College and additions to the Library and Science Buildings on the FJC campus, both completed by 1969. In addition to new structures, FJC also added handball courts, parking additions, landscaping, carillon bells, and air-conditioning to a few buildings. The temporary classrooms obtained from the military after the end of World War II were moved or removed from the campus with the hope that the new buildings could adequately accommodate students, but by 1968, the campus was leasing portable classrooms.

FJC student enrollment had quadrupled over the previous decade, and by 1960, FJC had moved ahead of the other seven community colleges in the Eastern Conference in student enrollment, with 4,074 day and 2,242 extended day students, a 25% increase over the previous year. A sample survey of 335 FJC students (204 men and 131 women) in 1961 revealed that 7.5% were married, 78% of men and 60% of women planned to transfer to a four-year college, 46% of the women owned cars, and the average debt was $687. The grade point average for men was 2.3; for women, 2.5. By the time FJC celebrated its fiftieth anniversary in 1963, enrollment had risen to 9,000; 560 courses were being offered; the campus was employing a teaching staff of 246 and nonteaching staff of 90; and 17 buildings, valued at $12 to $15 million dollars, were spread across 57 acres. Student enrollment continued to mount during the 1960s, and there was an unexpected spike, starting in1965, of male students hoping to avoid the military draft.

New programs were added to the curriculum, including a Library Technician Training Program, an Oceanographic Technician Program, the first in California, and a two-year Data Processing Program, which offered the first computer science courses. New courses offered in this decade reflected the times: Russian I, Effective Dictation Practices for the Businessman, Public Relations for Industry, Modern Meals, Electronic Fabrication, Turf Grass Management, Advanced Firearms, Crime Scene Techniques, Child Psychology, and Individual and Family Survival (a class on survival techniques in the event of natural or war disasters). A new Army ROTC program was also started on campus in 1965. FJC offered its first credit-no credit course, Creative Art 48, in September 1969.

The 1960s was a banner decade for FJC athletic programs. A number of new coaches were hired in the early 1960s—Bill Mann, Harold E. “Hal” Sherbeck, Mike Sgobba, Tom Tellez, Claude Retherford, etc.—who brought new approaches to their various sports. During this decade, a number of sports teams, including those in football, tennis, golf, swimming, and track, won Eastern Conference, State, or National titles for FJC. Sherbeck’s players were particularly successful, and for the first time in FJC history, football games were shown on national television.

Throughout the decade, FJC students took classes, studied in the library, attended dance and sporting events, and participated in typical campus activities. FJC students had never been that politically involved, but that disinterest started to change in the 1960s and 1970s. The only outward show of political interest at the start of the decade was a spoof of both the Democratic and Republican parties in the half-time show at the October 14, 1960 football game. The Hornet Band and Hornet Honeys moved into a series of political formations, spelling out JACK and DICK in salute to Presidential candidates John F. Kennedy and Richard M. Nixon. At the next game, held November 12, 1960, the Hornet Band and Honeys poked fun at Nikita Khrushchev and Fidel Castro, forming a field portrait of Khrushchev to the music of “Baby Face” and Castro to the “Gillette March.” A hotel formation to “There’s a Small Hotel” and a giant heart to “Let Me Call You Sweetheart” musically commented on the recent alliance of the two communist leaders.

In the background was a growing anti-communist movement propelled by hearings conducted by the House Committee on Un-American Activities (HUAC), whose goal was to investigate disloyal and subversive activities of individuals and those organizations suspected of having Communist Party ties. All of FJC’s political innocence ended with the October 1960 publication of The Black Flag: A Journal of Opinions, an unapproved student publication that would be declared subversive. Over two hundred angry parents and members of local groups crammed the District Center offices during a meeting, demanding that the literary journal be banned. That initial community friction continued as parents and organizations demanded that certain textbooks be banned, course offerings be cancelled, specific District employees and faculty members be dismissed, and that students be allowed to attend anti-communist courses off-campus during regular school hours. McCarthyism came to the front in December 1961, when popular welding instructor Wendell B. Phillips, Jr. was dismissed for his membership in the Communist Party and for his refusal to reveal the political activities of his colleagues. By the time HUAC had been discredited, FJC students were protesting the military draft, the Vietnam War, and other social and political issues.

At the same time, instructors, particularly new ones, began to demand more say in campus policies and procedures. Faculty members had little or no opportunity to contribute to the development of the Administrative Guide or Faculty Handbook, personnel policies (including instructor evaluation), or curricula. Many felt constrained in their ability to speak out on campus and in joining any organization which represented minority viewpoints or was considered controversial, extremely liberal, or extremely conservative. In October 1964, the California State Board of Education authorized the establishment of academic senates, and FJC faculty members voted 197 to 7 to establish a FJC Academic Senate. It was also during this decade that the Fullerton Junior College District merged with other college districts to form the North Orange County Junior College District, later changed to the North Orange County Community College District (NOCCCD).

Images

This 1962 aerial photograph of Sunny Hills Hill School (1801 Warburton Way) shows acres of vacant land still available for development in Fullerton and La Habra. Fullerton’s population had swelled to 56,180 by 1960, and new residents were still arriving each week.

Taken four years later, this is an aerial view of Fullerton Junior College and Fullerton Union High School. By this time, FJC sprawled across 57 acres.

This early 1960s shot shows the north side of the campus looking towards the Fullerton Union High School Stadium.

This is a map of the campus in 1962. In 1960, Spadra Boulevard was renamed Harbor Boulevard in order to have uniform street names from north to south in Orange County. After the name change, Fullerton police and fire officials asked that Harvard Avenue be changed as well because emergency workers were having a difficult time distinguishing the street names when calls for help were received. In 1961, Harvard Avenue, which had been named for the university by town founders George and Edward Amerige, was changed to Lemon Avenue. The avenue was named for John Francis “Pep” Lemon, Superintendent of the Parks Department, who retired in 1961. For decades, FJC buildings had no signage, and the decision was made in 1962 to put names on buildings so that visitors unfamiliar with the campus could find their way around. College architects Taylor and Connor were given the task of recommending materials and letter sizes for the signs.

Boxcar Avenue, the Pacific Electric’s right-of-way continued to be used as trains travelled through the campus nightly over tracks that still divided FJC. The train no longer carried passengers but continued to transport materials until 1964. The locomotive also made occasional trips from Los Angeles (often at night) with a load of lumber for local lumber yards to pick up fruit from a packing house on Commonwealth Avenue. In this 1960 photo, Nite Times reporter-photographer Bob Smith interviews brakeman Paul Weide, while the train is delayed by a parked automobile. Nite Times was the FJC evening student newspaper.

This is a map of the campus five years later in 1967. By this time, all of the military buildings moved to the campus after World War II and the remaining homes along Lemon Avenue were demolished to make way for new buildings. In 1966, Berkeley Avenue was widened and extended to Harbor Boulevard, following the old Pacific Electric right-of-way on campus. The new artery was expected to handle between12,000 to 15,000 cars daily within a year.

This is a 1960 shot of the two mile tunnels that still linked major buildings on both the high school and junior college campuses.

A new bulletin board was completed in front of the campus in November 1960. The lighted attraction sign, purchased with Associated Student Body funds, replaced the modest metal plaque which had been the only identification of FJC for 45 years. The sign was constructed by Gallegos Brothers Construction, who also built the new Auto Shop. The new $4,000, 9-foot announcement sign was designed to be visible from both directions on Chapman Avenue and was made of brick, glass, and metal and surrounded by ornamental brickwork. Lighted boards were also placed in front of the Art-Home Economics Building (the Fine Arts Building) and the Student Center.

This 1960 photo shows the quad area with the Student Center, constructed in 1957, at the back. Much of the original landscaping remained, but this shot shows the cement hardscape that was added to the campus in the 1950s and continued to be added during the next two decades

During this period, landscaping became starker and more severe, and groundsmen planted vegetation that required less water. This is a 1965 exterior view of the Technical Education Building (now the 700 Building). A three-year project to completely re-landscape the front of the campus was also completed in 1960.

Constructed in 1960, this photo shows the newly completed bridge between the Science and Math Buildings (then the 400 and 600 buildings). This bridge was later demolished in 2009. There was also a bridge between the Humanities and Business Building that was demolished in 2005.

During the 1960s, campus administrators went forward with post-World War II construction plans, adding a number of new buildings. The first building constructed was the new Auto Shop (the 910 Building), shown here in 2011 with students relaxing outside. As with the buildings constructed during the 1950s, the architects were William H. Taylor and George S. Conner (Taylor & Conner). Taylor continued to design his preferred reinforced concrete, boxlike buildings trimmed with metal and red brick facings. The familiar temporary buildings (T-9 through T-12) beside the north parking lot were pulled down to make way for the new shop. In June 1966, the auto mechanics service yard was expanded to provide more space for students.

The five remaining temporary buildings (T-1 through T-8), brought to the campus at the end of World War II, were moved to another location on campus or sold to the Fullerton Elementary School District. They were replaced with a New Applied Arts Building designed to house foreign language classes, data processing, psychology, journalism, merchandising, medical and dental assisting, and the single largest classroom on campus, a room seating 125. Two office suites were included to serve the ever-increasing duties of the faculty. Dedicated on Friday, November 16, 1962, the 33,296-square-foot building cost $669,650. The same day that the Applied Arts Building was dedicated, the college also renamed the College Library as the William T. Boyce Library in honor of FJC’s first President.

This photo shows one of the five temporary buildings, which had been purchased from the military after the close of World War II, being removed from the FJC campus in May of 1961. One of the barracks-type structures was moved to an area north of the athletic track to continue service as an agricultural classroom building. The other four buildings, which at one time housed surveying, mathematics, physics, and publications, were purchased by the Fullerton Elementary School District to use as warehouse and district library buildings for a new administrative center of the elementary district on Valencia Drive. The temporary buildings, which had been on the campus for fourteen years, were moved to make space for new classroom buildings expected to be completed in 1962.

When FJC was organized in 1913, three foreign languages were taught: Spanish, German, and Latin. By 1960, the languages taught were Spanish, German, French, and Russian, and enrollment in those courses had greatly expanded. Room 529 of the new Applied Arts Building included forty language booths, with certain rows designated for a particular language. Each booth was equipped with a set of earphones, a tape recorder for either listening or recording, and a set of controls. Out of five class meetings, one day was set aside by instructors for a lab session.

The new Applied Arts Building was one of the few buildings on campus at the time that was air-conditioned. During heat waves, students would crowd the hallways and stairways. This photo was taken during a blistering October 1963 heat wave. In August 1967, air-conditioning was added to the Student Center, Bookstore, and Cafeteria.

In June 1965, the Associated Students purchased carillon bells from Schulmerich Carillons, Inc. in Pennsylvania for $12,500. The idea for the bell system started with members of the Young Farmers’ Association, who wanted the system as a memorial to Dr. Lloyd J. Meuli, the former lead instructor of agriculture. Similar to a player piano, the carillon device duplicated the sound of bells. The machine that made the bell system was housed in a closet in the Student Center, and the speakers were placed in a cupola on the Science Building (the 600 Building). Along with the carillon, a number of scrolls played such popular songs as “Moon River” and “Deck the Halls.” Different scrolls were used for special programs, and organizations could request particular tunes for events held on campus. The organ and player-piano roll are shown here along with a close-up view of the bell chimes and part of the mechanical makeup of the bell system.

In 1966, to make way for the new Music and Theatre Arts Buildings, the college purchased the remaining lots (816, 816½, 820 North Lemon, and 319 East Chapman) along Lemon Avenue, and then demolished the buildings, including the popular Hob Nob hang-out, still on the properties. District officials initially planned to eminent domain the properties, but all the homeowners eventually agreed to sell.

Prior to demolition, FJC was using some of the homes along Lemon Avenue to provide needed services, including Placement Services. Through the efforts of this office, many students were regularly placed in part-time and full-time jobs. In this 1963 photo, Placement Office Manager Robert Slaught shows student Dennis Sullivan his assignment for a new job.

The new Music and Theatre Arts facilities were constructed at the same time at a cost of $2.3 million, with both dedicated on March 3, 1967. The Music Building, shown here shortly after it opened, provided a large instrument room and recital hall in which to rehearse and prepare for concerts, plus seven classrooms. The hall was equipped with a stage and lighting facilities for small chamber music performances, and included a library work room, sixteen practice rooms, storage and repair rooms, a uniform and robe room, and two dressing rooms. These two buildings were the last to be designed by Taylor and Conner.

Prior to construction of the Music Building, music courses were still being taught on the Fullerton Union High School campus. In this 1963 shot, an FJC music class is shown still rehearsing in one of the high school buildings. The elderly student on the right playing the cello is Dumont Scott, born in 1883. Dumont’s two sons had studied earlier with Harold E. Walberg, head of the Music Departments for both the high school and college.

Taken in 1967, this is an FJC music class in the new Music Building. The increased space available in the new facility allowed FJC students to try out new musical equipment, including the experimental electronic pianos shown here. Manufactured by Fender-Rhodes, Inc. in Fullerton (1225 East Ash Avenue), the electronic pianos allowed students to practice while only hearing their own music. If an instructor wanted to focus his attention on a single student, he could “tune in” to any desired piano. Fender, a former FJC student, formed Fender-Rhodes, Inc. with Harold B. Rhodes (1910-2000), the inventor of the electric piano bass. Like Fender’s electronic Precision Bass, the portable Fender-Rhodes piano was a revolutionary instrument which greatly benefitted musicians. Piano players, who previously were not always able to play with their bands because many venues did not have an in-house piano, could now play at any event with this new instrument. The Fender-Rhodes piano quickly became the most widely used electric piano, featured in many kinds of popular music (especially jazz-rock) and played by a number of notable musicians, including Chick Corea, Herbie Hancock, Ray Manzarek, Josef Zawinul, and many others. The first Fender-Rhodes pianos sold for $895.

This is a shot of the exterior of the newly constructed Theatre Arts Building in 1967. The facility was equipped with a workshop theatre, a costume production room, a makeup preparation room, and a classroom.

Taken in 1967, this is a shot of the interior of the Theatre Arts Building.

The Theatre Arts Building included a new auditorium called the College Studio Theatre. The auditorium had a sound and projection booth, four dressing rooms, and a basement stage with large storage areas for scenery and stage properties. The evening of the Theatre Arts Building dedication, March 3, 1967, drama students presented the first production of a play on the FJC campus—Arthur Miller’s Death of a Salesman. Prior to construction of this new Theatre, productions were held at Plummer Auditorium or Fullerton Union High School’s Little Theatre. Dramatic and musical productions that followed included the Madwoman of Chaillot (1968), Antigone (1968), Red Eye of Love (1968), Kismet (1969), Othello (1969), Summer and Smoke (1969), and A Man for All Seasons (1969).

In October 1965, Superintendent Lake suddenly announced that William E. Blurock and Associates of Corona del Mar had been appointed architects of FJC, replacing Taylor and Conner, whose final project was the Music and Theatre Arts facilities. Blurock had been selected earlier as the architect for the new Cypress College and was also hired by the Board of Trustees to design additions to the FJC Library and Science Buildings. Blurock and his associates would become one of Orange County’s longest surviving and one of its largest home-grown architectural businesses. In this 1966 shot, William Blurock (seated, left) peruses the Cypress College plans while (left to right, standing) are Dr. Carl B. Franzen, educational consultant, Dr. Base Hedrick, Faculty Club President, and Dr. Ernest G. Lake, District Superintendent. Seated on the right is William W. Caudill, who also worked on the initial master plan for Cypress College.

At the time the master plan for Cypress College was developed, the land was vacant aside from this sign. The District had also purchased land in Yorba Linda for another community college which was expected to open in the mid-1970s, providing education to 10,000 students, William E. Blurock completed plans for the new Cypress College site in 1966, and construction of the first five permanent buildings on the Cypress College campus began in October 1967.

William E. Blurock’s first assignment on the FJC campus was to design new additions to both the Library and Science Buildings. A new library had been constructed in 1957, but library staff and students soon ran out of space, reflected in this 1960 photo of students’ studying. At the time, 500 books a day were checked out from the collection.

The new library addition, completed in 1968, allowed students to spread out into more comfortable reading and study space. To accommodate the addition, $150,000 worth of new furniture was purchased. Coin operated electric and manual typewriters were available in the Typing Room on the second floor of the Library.

While the new addition was under construction, librarians, staff members, and materials were moved into temporary quarters. While in the temporary facility, the Library began to acquire educational-related materials on microfiche, including the Education Research and Information Clearinghouse (ERIC) set shown here in 1967. The federal government embraced this information format because each microfiche sheet could be produced for only a nickel. On the left is head librarian, Shirley Bosen, and on the right is reference librarian William Whitney.

One of the major features of the Art-Home Economics Building (the Fine Arts Building), constructed in 1957, was the new Art Gallery, a first for the campus. During this decade, the Art Gallery had special exhibits and continuous displays of student work from such classes as ceramics, clay modeling, jewelry, and metal work. The bulletin board outside the Art-Home Economics Building announces the dates of an upcoming California sculpture exhibition.

This is a photo of an Ansel Adams exhibition (“The Eloquent Light”) held in the Art Gallery in 1964.

An art show held each year in the Student Center also allowed students to sell their paintings. These are some of the paintings available for purchase at the 1963 Art Sale, sponsored by members of Alpha Rho Tau.

Two art faculty members—Dennison Herring (left) and Douglas MacFadden (right)—hang a painting in this 1964 photograph.

Instructor Nixson L. Borah stands next to “Death of Adonis,” an ink drawing, in 1968.

In 1967, a dozen vending machines offering snacks and drinks were allowed on campus and quickly became very popular, especially with night students. Initially, the vending machines were placed around campus, but eventually nearly all of the machines ended up on the patio area next to the cafeteria and snack shop. The vending machines quickly made a healthy profit for the college. At the time, smoking was permitted on campus and in a number of rooms, including the Hive, Student Center, and Library conference rooms, and FJC students petitioned to have cigarette vending machines added. Despite the fact that the United States Surgeon General had issued a groundbreaking report that definitively linked smoking with cancer in 1964, the Trustees approved the request in April 1966. One cigarette machine was placed in the cafeteria, another in the Student Center. At the time, 46% of all Americans smoked (50% of all men).

Although the new Student Center was heavily used by students, the patio area remained popular on sunny days.

As the Mid-Century style became more popular, the patio’s original wooden tables, benches, and chairs were replaced with stylized metal and plastic furnishings.

During the 1960s, FJC students had two major complaints: the Bookstore and parking. The newly remodeled Bookstore, shown here on the left, quickly proved inadequate. Students would line up for hours in the hot sun outside only to be told that their textbooks were not available.

To alleviate problems, the Bookstore was briefly moved to the Women’s Gymnasium during registration, with seven cashiers on hand to handle increased book sales, but problems persisted throughout the decade.

In 1960, the campus paved a new parking lot over the pasture west of the railroad tracks. The new lot brought the total number of spaces to 2,300 (375 were reserved for faculty, staff, and special permit holders), but did not solve the problem. No matter the time of day, there never seemed to be enough parking spaces.

Frustrated students would park anywhere, including No Parking zones, exacerbating the problem. Sidewalks and the various triangular spaces in the parking lots were particularly popular illegal parking spots.

At the time parking was free, but students unwilling to obtain a parking sticker would park in any available spot.

Complaints from nearby homeowners and FJC students forced the Board of Trustees to establish traffic and parking regulations that went into effect on Wednesday, February 1, 1961. To ensure that each student understood the regulations, a brochure was published and the regulations were also printed each semester in the student newspaper. Many students ignored the announcement, and on the first day the new parking regulations were enforced, 148 citations were issued (four to faculty members). Several students removed the tickets, then returned to their cars to find them ticketed again. To alleviate some of the parking problems, public bus service (lines 58 and 125) to the campus became available in 1962. FJC students were offered a reduced rate to use the buses.

Because the college had no police or security unit, the Board of Trustees asked the Fullerton Police Department to ticket and fine students illegally parked. Fines were $5.00 for parking in a red zone, $3.00 for parking in a yellow zone, $10.00 for double parking, and $2.00 for parking in Permit Only, Faculty Reserved, or Visitor Only spaces without proper authorization. Many students paid the fine rather than spend time looking for a parking spot. While some colleges had student courts, FJC students paid their fines at the Anaheim-Fullerton Municipal Court. The fines were the same as violations on city streets or in city parking areas. Students who continued to willfully disobey the new regulations could be dismissed from school. By 1967, jaywalking had also become a serious problem, and “don’t walk” lights were installed at Lemon and Chapman Avenues. In addition to parking citations, Fullerton police began to hand out citations to those students who did not walk between marked crosswalks.

The new District Center on the hillside behind the campus was completed in 1960.

The Board of Trustees moved their meetings from the FJC campus to this board room at the new headquarter offices in the District Center.

In this 1963 photo, District and College administrators strike a humorous pose as they pretend to be taking notes at the direction of Allan Hadden. Left to right are: John W. Mann, Assistant Superintendent of Instructional Services, Wallace J. Riutcel, Business Manager; Elton D. Ward, Assistant Superintendent of Physical Plant and Facilities; Allan Hadden; Walter J. Pray, Director of Personnel; and Clarence W. Szalkowski, Administrative Assistant for Research and Reports. On the far right is H. Lynn Sheller, who would continue as FJC President until 1969, when he was forced to retire because of his age. As a parting gift to Sheller, the student body commissioned portrait artist Edward Fazzio to paint a picture of the departing administrator. The painting is housed in the Fullerton College Library. Fazzio specialized in portraits of government officials and had been commissioned in 1963 to complete portraits of former Los Angeles mayors.

Dr. Ernest G. Lake remained District Superintendent until 1966, when he accepted a teaching position at Orange County State College (now CSU Fullerton).

On District Superintendent Ernest G. Lake’s agenda was a tax increase for both the high school and college. The Board of Trustees placed a tax increase on the March 14, 1961 special election ballot, but despite a record number visiting the polls, the measure lost. The Board of Trustees were still serving both FJC and the Fullerton Union High School, and it marked the first time since 1934 that citizens had not voted for an increase. The only other time an election had been lost was in 1911. The loss was a sign of things to come in later decades. Lake’s editorial (“A Five-Year Program”) was published in the March 6, 1961 issue of Nite Times, the FJC evening student newspaper.

Dr. Ernest G. Lake was replaced by Charles H. Wilson (1913-1977), who became the first district head to be formally titled as Chancellor. An Ohio native, Wilson had been superintendent of schools in Maumee, Ohio, Highland Park, Illinois, and Grosse Pointe, Michigan. He authored A Teacher is a Person (1956) and co-authored Exploring Chicago (1958). Wilson was diagnosed with cancer in 1976, but continued as Chancellor until a successor was found. Leadie M. Clark assumed the post on August 1, 1977. Wilson entered St. Jude Hospital the next day and died thirteen days later. Wilson was not a supporter of the comparative grading system (A, B, C, D, and F), believing it to be “a shackling influence on individual development.”

In 1962, plans were developed to merge the Fullerton Junior College District with other college districts to form the North Orange County Junior College District, later changed to the North Orange County Community College District (NOCCCD). The proposed district, shown here on a map, contained 144-square-miles of North Orange County and 6-square-miles of Los Angeles, an area which included a population of 434,365 and a total student enrollment of 111,404. Despite low voter turnout, the merger was approved in a December 15, 1964 election.

During the 1960s, the number of faculty members increased as new programs and classes were added to the curricula. For the fall semester of 1960, twenty-seven new instructors were employed, with every division on campus bolstered by one or more new faculty members. Another fifty-three were added in 1963, bringing the total number to 221. The Faculty Club, which included all the teaching and administrative faculty, remained popular, meeting formally once or twice a semester, and informally for an annual Fall Picnic and Spring Banquet. The Faculty Club was made up of a series of committees—ethics, research, teachers’ salaries, public relations, membership, and social events—whose chairs formed the Council for the Club. The Council members for 1961 are shown in this photo. In 1964, FJC faculty voted to establish an Academic Senate, which replaced the Council.

Dorothy Hermes, division secretary, and Robert Alter, enjoying the Humanities division's Christmas Party in 1965.

Teaching often did not end with class. Here Harold H. Roach, Jr. assists Lynn Wedell with his calculus.

Howard C. Hall (1924-1961), journalism instructor, addresses a group of students in 1960. Hall, advisor to all FJC publications (the Hornet, Torch, Nite Beat, and Nite Times), was known by his students as “Father Hall.” Employed by FJC in 1954, Hall spent his years on campus training journalists, taking photographs, and writing publicity. His sudden death in 1961 was a shock to the campus community.

This is Dr. Ira D. Dudley, head of foreign languages, speaking informally with his French class in 1963.

Here Fream B. Minton, a physics instructor, gives an exam.

In this 1963 shot, instructor Robert Owen conducts his evening sociology class. At the time, about 4,200 students attended evening classes, and of those, 1,000 also took day classes. To accommodate night students, the Hornet newspaper added a Nightside section (page three of each issue) that reported on the interests and activities of nightsiders.

Instructor Dale Bancroft demonstrates the Holger-Neilsen methods of artificial respiration. The back pressure-arm life method of artificial respiration was developed by Nielsen Holger (1866-1955), a Danish army officer in 1932, but has been replaced with cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR).

The unsung heroes of the FJC campus remained the support staff. This is the entire full-time evening office staff (left to right): Dorothy D. Miller, Ava L. Kaplan, Anita E. Pritchard, and Linda K. McGaughy. Women began to enter the workforce in record numbers during the 1960s.

Shown here in 1962, groundsman Captain Jerry Cross hangs a horseshoe outside the Men’s Gymnasium to ward off evil spirits which might keep FJC’s teams out of the winner’s circle. Cross could frequently be seen strolling the campus while singing and entertaining the students with his witty comments. Prior to being hired by FJC, Cross had spent thirty years in the Navy on the battleships USS Arkansas, Texas, and Wyoming. He was responsible for raising and lowering the American flag every day.

To celebrate its fifty year anniversary in 1963, FJC’s Associated Student Body (ASB) issued this new brochure. ASB cards were then $12.00, and student officers worked with a $100,000 budget to cover the costs of student activities. Later in the 1960s, the requirement to purchase an ASB card became an issue for some students.

To honor FJC’s 50th anniversary, Orange County Newsmagazine published an extensive article on the college. The college reprinted the article, and FJC students, dressed in cloaks and gowns, went to downtown Fullerton and all major shopping centers distributing the pamphlet.

Each year, candidates for ASB offices were introduced at a nomination assembly. In 1960, ASB Presidential candidate Ron Ranson is speaking at the microphone, while his opponent George Francisco waits patiently at the right. Ranson, the winner, was born in 1941 in Inglewood, California. A drama major, he planned to study Theatrical Arts at the University of Denver.

The ASB President for 1963/64 was Jack Brink. A math major, Brink won the election by a mere 24 votes over his opponent, Doug Cook. Before enrolling at FJC, the 24-year old Brink had spent four years in the Air Force.

As ASB President, Jack Brink (left) coordinated all student government activities and served on the committee for establishing the budget. He served over a number of commissioners, who set policy for the campus, budgeted students funds, and planned student activities. There was a commissioner for rallies, publicity, social activities, elections, and athletics. This is a photo of the 1963/64 Student Body Commission, which met every Tuesday morning, planning one of their many activities.

Graduation ceremonies, such as the June 16, 1961 one shown here, were held at 7:30 p.m. in the Fullerton Union High School Stadium. Four of the graduates spoke on behalf of the graduating class, and the speakers, two men and two women, were selected by the sophomore class at their class meeting. One of the speakers was Ron Ranson, outgoing Student Body President and a Man of Distinction in 1959-60.

In this 1962 photo, Dr. Ira D. Dudley (right), in charge of caps and gowns, issues one to Carleen Simonson, while Joe Tatar helpfully places the cap on her head. In addition to graduation, the caps and gowns were also used for choir performances.

During the 1960s, the campus continued to function normally, with students attending classes, games, dances, and various events. The decade, however, was full of social and political change, and trends and conflicts began to affect the college early in the decade. In October 1960, three FJC students self-published The Black Flag: A Journal of Opinions, named for a popular insecticide. Later issues were published in November and December 1960, and June 1961, and distributed around campus. Any student “having a story, a poem, article or any other form of communication of reasonable length” was invited to contribute articles to the unauthorized publication. The three editors, John Flowers, Guillermo Lamers, and Eric Gruver, all of whom had served or were serving in the military, thought the Hornet lacked “intellectual stimulation” and wanted to publish articles more reflective of the times. The publication of The Black Flag caused a firestorm in the community, and it was quickly labeled subversive. One editorial on the Cuban Revolution was criticized as supporting communism. After reading the first issue, the Deans of Men and Women recommended that the three editors immediately be suspended. On January 3, 1960, over two hundred parents crowded the District Center headquarters, accused the Trustees of “dragging their feet,” and called for banning the publication. They also asked that FUHS counselor Joel Dvorman be fired because of his membership in the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU). The Trustees subsequently adopted new regulations concerning authorized campus groups and publications, making violators liable to expulsion from school.

Under great pressure, the three editors of The Black Flag agreed to abandon their publication and sought approval for a literary club on campus. Editor John Flowers (standing) presented the proposal at an unruly January 17, 1961 meeting attended by students, parents, and members of national and local organizations, but the new literary club was rejected. The meeting marked the first time that a Student Body Commission meeting had been attended by parents and organization members, including the John Birch Society. Flowers agreed to show an issue of the literary journal to the Student Commission before it was published, but would not agree to make every club member sign a loyalty oath before joining the new club. In the lower right hand corner of this photograph is the tape recorder used to capture the entire meeting.

It took nine months, but the new Literary Club was finally approved by the California Board of Education in October 1961. Thomas K. Beckman (standing), a conservative, was made editor of the Club’s new publication, The Prism, along with Raymond D. Liedlich (seated on right) and William F. Smith, both English instructors.

The first issue of the new Literary Club’s journal, The Prism, was published in 1962. The 18-page publication lacked the intent of The Black Flag and quickly died after one issue.

The publication of The Black Flag, and the accompanying bad press, led district and college administrators to come up with strategies to appease ultraconservative elements in the community. One of the main strategies was to present anti-communist programs. In February 1961, FJC offered a new series of six forum lectures based on the theme, “Understanding the goals and techniques of world communism.” All the lectures, held every Wednesday evening, were free to the public. At a March 9, 1961 FJC assembly, also open to the public, students watched Nightmare in Red, a film that depicted the growth of communism. From March 6-9, 1961, students enrolled in the four high schools of the Fullerton Union High School District were excused from class at the request of their parents to attend the Orange County School of Anti-Communism, sponsored by the Christian Anti-Communism Crusade. Students and their parents attending the sessions at the Disneyland Hotel in Anaheim heard speeches on “How to Debate with Communists and Fellow Travelers,” “Web of Subversion,” and “Cybernetic Warfare.” On September 20, 1963, Robert Welch, controversial leader and founder of the ultraconservative John Birch Society, delivered his first Orange County address on the FJC campus. A former candy manufacturer, Welch had skyrocketed to fame in 1959 when he charged that President Eisenhower and Secretary of State Dulles were communists.

While the college had always had an open policy on lectures, welcoming various views, during the 1960s, heckling became common. When educator/journalist Dr. Max Lerner, Yale University graduate and former Harvard professor, spoke on “America and World Politics,” he was picketed by conservative factions in Orange County, and accused of 50 counts of communist affiliations by a member of the John Birch Society. Throughout the decade, other speakers, including Black Panther Deputy Shermont Banks and civil rights leader Fred Shuttleworth, were also not welcomed by various factions on campus.

Concerned with increased public attacks on textbooks, course offerings (sex education in particular), and individual faculty members and staff employees, members of the Secondary Teachers Organization (STO) of Fullerton asked the California Teachers Association (CTA) in conjunction with the National Education Association (NEA) to investigate “community friction” in the city. On April 12-14, 1961, staff members from the CTA and NEA held preliminary fact-finding interviews in Fullerton with a number of teachers, administrators, trustees, and interested citizens. The investigative report, published in May 1961, generally gave a clean bill of health to the district, but did note low teacher morale. The panel also found the Christian Anti-Communist School courses to be “poorly planned and conducted,” and the editors of The Black Flag to be “erudite, intelligent young men who showed initiative about their intellectual concerns.”

McCarthyism was to continue at FJC when the headline for the December 8, 1961 issue of the Hornet shouted: “Hazelton Replaces Former Commie Instructor Phillips.” The student newspaper retracted the false statements made in the article in the next issue, but FJC welding instructor Wendell B. Phillips, Jr., 41, never recovered his reputation on campus. Phillips, who had a Class A Vocational Credential, was a descendent of the noted abolitionist, Wendell Phillips, and he continued his ancestor's championing of liberal causes. Phillips had been a member of the Communist Party from 1939 to 1951, but left after being disillusioned. He tried to re-join the party, but it rejected him in 1957 since he was interested in reforming the party from within. President Sheller and Superintendent Lake suspended Phillips until a hearing could be held. Phillips was later dismissed for perjury on his loyalty oath and for “unprofessional conduct” for his refusal to inform on others, as required by the Dilworth Act (Section 12956 of the California Education Code). The 1953 Dilworth Act forbade any school district employee from having membership in the Communist Party or any organization advocating forceful or violent overthrow of the American government. The Act was named for Republican State Senator Nelson S. Dilworth, who had served on the California Joint Fact-Finding Committee on Un-American Activities. The Act, which was later declared unconstitutional by the California Supreme Court, was used to blacklist teachers in California.

Wendell B. Phillips, Jr., a World War II Army veteran, was very popular with FJC students. So many of his supporters showed up at the December 18, 1961 hearing that many were forced to stand outside the District Center. The hearing was interrupted several times by the unruly crowd outside. Phillips contested his dismissal, and as his case worked through the legal system, he went on a speaking tour of Eastern universities. The decision to dismiss Phillips and the accompanying hysteria did little to help Fullerton Junior College’s reputation, and the American Federation of Teachers (AFT) went so far as to assail the Dilworth Act, adopting a resolution on the 1962 convention floor opposing “dismissal or penalization of teachers who refuse to inform on political beliefs to their colleagues.” Represented by the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), Phillips eventually won his case in 1965, but the Trustees refused to reinstate him as an instructor, offering him instead a $15,000 settlement.

After World War II, there was concern that communist sympathizers were obtaining employment in the government and in public schools. The majority of states enacted laws that required public employees, public school teachers, and college and university professors to sign loyalty oaths as a condition of employment. In this 1966 photo, an FJC employee is taking the “Oath of Allegiance for Board Members and Persons Employed by a Public School District, County of Orange, State of California.” Eventually the United States Supreme Court declared most of the loyalty oaths unconstitutional.

The 1960s started off with the usual election rallies in front of the Student Center. Here 1961/62 ASB President Bob Wagner addresses a May 1962 election rally to decide the student leaders for 1962/63. That was followed by an introduction to the candidates, who delivered their campaign addresses. The winners that year were Ron Mankin, a 27-year-old Air Force veteran, for ASB President, and John Lindsay, an architectural engineering major, for Vice-President. Over 1,000 students voted in the election. As the decade continued, FJC students lost interest in ASB elections, and turned to political rallies instead.

Voter turnout at student elections, which had never been particularly high, reached new lows during this decade, and there was much concern about apathetic voters. Students elected to ASB offices and commissions were often at odds with the wishes of the student body, and instead of election rallies, political rallies became very popular. FJC students protested against the strict dress code, the required purchase of an ASB card, the military draft, the Vietnam War, and other political and social issues.

By fall 1965, an additional 800 male students were enrolled at FJC to escape the military draft. Initially, these students were labeled unpatriotic, and there was anger that the “draft dodgers” were adding to an already crowded campus, taking classes and parking spaces needed for others. The 1966 Torch included a one-act limerick (“The Draft of Kraft”) which featured a draft dodger with a 2S card in various locations around campus accompanied by a series of ditties: “A wandering young man named Kraft/Was deathly afraid of the draft/’It’s quite simple,’ he said/I’ll just go to JC/And my board will be driven quite daft.’”

As the Vietnam War dragged on and protests mounted, FJC students became more sympathetic to those not willing to fight, setting up conscientious objector booths on campus. At the time, 1.8 million students were carrying deferment cards. To qualify for deferment, students initially only had to be enrolled full-time (12 units each semester), but by 1966, the Selective Service Board began requiring students to take the Selective Service Qualification Text. Students who failed the four-part test (reading comprehension, verbal relations, arithmetic reasoning, and data interpretation) or received low scores were then ordered into military service. A student in his freshman class was required to be in the upper half of the male members to qualify for deferment, and in his sophomore year, to be in the upper two-thirds of the male members of his class to qualify for a senior year deferment.

The casualty toll of the Vietnam War was brought home when James Patrick Fitzsimmons (1946-1967), a former FJC football star, was killed while fighting with the Marines in Vietnam. Fitzsimmons, 21, who gained the rank of lance corporal, was killed on May 18, 1967 by shrapnel. He had graduated from Garden Grove High School and played on the 1965 championship Junior Rose Bowl team. Inducted into the military before completing his courses at FJC, Fitzsimmons had hoped to return to Fullerton after completing his military service.

In the late 1960s, both Orange County State College (now CSU Fullerton) and FJC were the sites of well-publicized anti-war demonstrations during the Vietnam War. This photo shows police and students in front of CSUF’s Langsdorf Hall, the campus administration building, on Nutwood Avenue in 1969. Students from both campuses would often coordinate rallies and protests. Langsdorf Hall was designed by William E. Blurock, who had also designed the additions to the Fullerton College Library and Science Building. (Courtesy of the Fullerton Public Library.)

On October 15, 1969, at an all-day FJC Vietnam Symposium held in the Campus Theatre, Orange County State College (CSU Fullerton) students showed up unannounced for an unscheduled anti-war rally.

The political and social divide that had developed in America began to influence all aspects of campus life. Even the Torch yearbooks, which had always been apolitical, began to include anti-war photographs and articles. This drawing from a 1967 Torch reflects the psychedelic art popular at the time.

On Sunday, February 5, 1967, FJC’s Flower Children posted signs, handbooks, and posters around campus announcing a “love-in” (Gentle Thursday) to be held on Thursday, February 9th. On Monday, Dean of Women Marguerite Walters cancelled the event and proclaimed that no notices or handbills could be posted or passed out without prior approval. On Tuesday, February 7, 1967, the Student Body Commission rejected with a ten to two vote the love-in on the grounds that “the happening” was not a sponsored school activity.

Gentle Thursday, however, occurred without a hitch as over 700 students gathered in the quad where they sang folk songs, flew kites, distributed flowers and lollipops, and engaged in other spontaneous entertainment. CBS newsmen were on hand to film the event, along with reporters from local newspapers.

To diffuse protests and to prevent further spontaneous love-ins, FJC officials announced that starting February 24, 1967, “Friday on the Grass” discussions would take place in the quad area. Sponsored by the Student-Faculty Dialogue Committee, the informal gatherings were intended to provide a forum where students and faculty members could openly discuss ideas and feelings. Initially, the gatherings were cordial, but students began showing up with petitions to protest campus policies, forcing administrators, commissioners, and club presidents to address students. One group that wanted the dress regulations rescinded took off their shoes.

A topic of particular contention was the recognition of the Students for a Democratic Society (SDS) as an on-campus organization. During the week of March 24, 1969, three FJC students were suspended for four days for illegally distributing an SDS propaganda sheet. In this May 1969 photo, College President H. Lynn Sheller is shown conducting a two-day debate with SDS spokesmen over non-recognition of the radical group. Sheller, who had suffered a heart attack in 1966, often used the strategy of talking with students to diffuse confrontations.

Hornet staff conducted a random poll of 121 FJC students regarding their drug use. The results, announced in the January 12, 1968 issue, revealed that 23% of the students polled had tried marijuana and 10% LSD, which was legal at the time. The 1967 issue of the Torch included an ode to LSD (“Acid Sunday”).

Despite campus disruptions, classes continued as usual. Business courses remained popular during this period. In this shot, Mrs. Ruby Harrod, instructor in shorthand and transcription, demonstrates (in Room 324) the use of the Double Tonette to freshman Pat Kennedy of Artesia.

For Display Advertising (Business Education 52), students continued to gain valuable practical experience by laying out window displays and arranging clothes for local retail stores.

Because of the increasing need in Orange County for employees trained as keypunch operators, accounting machine operators, programmers, system analysts, and accountants, FJC began offering courses in business data processing in September 1960. The new Data Processing Program trained students to use punch card equipment, including a keypunch, a sorter, a reproduction punch, a Royal- McBee Tabulator, a Burroughs F199 accounting machine, and a punch card coupler. Here an adult student is learning how to use a data processing machine for a class on Fortran, an early programming language developed by IBM in the 1950s. The new program offered courses in the Principles of Data Processing, Computer Programming, Data Processing Machines, and Data Processing Systems. Six hundred students enrolled in these early computer classes. The average starting salary for someone completing the two-year program was $6,000 annually.

In this 1963 photo, instructor William J. Claffey demonstrates the Royal McBee card sorter with a typewriter that recorded results. Claffey was the author of a number of data processing textbooks: Principles of Data Processing (1967), Principles of Programming the IBM 1620 Computer (1968), and Key Punch Operation (1969).

Another new program, started in 1964/65, was the Library Assistant Training Program. At the time, library assistant courses were offered at Mount San Antonio College, Pasadena City College, and Los Angeles Trade-Technical College, but no similar program was available in Orange County. Most public schools had individual libraries, and the Orange County library system was developing, so there was a need for library paraprofessionals. The program closed in 1997.

The Radio Department provided training and experience leading to the FCC third class license with Broadcast Endorsement at the end of two years’ study. As television sets became common in most American homes, TV classes grew in popularity. FJC courses offered students the opportunity to tape in an actual studio on campus. In this 1968 photo, a journalism student records a taping of Rita Kaltenback’s storytelling session with a group of children.

These students were enrolled in a 1964 Modern Dance class offered as part of the Physical Education program.

Also popular was Florence E. English’s Social Dance class (Physical Education 34). For two hours a week, students learned the beginning fundamentals of the waltz, fox trot, Lindy Hop, rumba, tango, samba, mambo, and cha-cha-cha. Students who did well in this course went on to Advanced Social Dance where the emphasis was “on styles and individual creative approaches to steps.” Mrs. English was the lead instructor of Physical Education for Women.

Taken in 1964, this is art student Al Isaakson with his model, Judith Chandler.

As part of a class assignment, two students film a City of Fullerton police officer in his squad car.

Two students study a starfish as part of a Life Sciences laboratory session. Microscopes were stored in a cabinet in the back.

An engineering student poses next to a Tinius Olsen tensile testing machine, ready to write down the results. The Tinius Olsen Material Testing Machine Company still manufactures static tension and/or compression materials testing machines. This piece of equipment was still used on campus in the early 2000s.

This is a close-up view of a student using a spectroscope in a physics class.

These two students are taking a 1960s chemistry class.

Two students train a rat to find its way through a maze for Psychology 1B.

Interior Design and Home Management (“Home Ec”) courses remained very popular with female students during the 1960s. In this 1962 shot, a student explains the nutritional differences of proteins, carbohydrates, and fats.

Here a couple studies a “Family Accounts” booklet.

Two students show off the fashions they created for a Dress Design and Construction Course in 1962.

This Home Management student is comparing three different dessert toppings. Borden’s Starlac powdered milk, on the counter to the left, was used in preparing the toppings. Borden sold the product in the 1950s to the mid-1960s as a new convenience food for busy homemakers. A 1966 recall for salmonella contamination and a subsequent lack of public confidence in the product caused the company to stop manufacturing Starlac.

In the 1960s, the expectation grew that most baby boomer students would move on to a four-year university. Technical jobs, however, were still plentiful as the economy continued to expand, and many of the day and evening Technical Education courses were filled to capacity. In this photo, FJC students are operating linotype machines.

In this shot, FJC students enrolled in printing shop are producing the latest issue of the campus newspaper, the Hornet. Under the direction of Ralph Porter, lead instructor of the Print Shop, students learned the use of the linotype, press, folding machine, Fairchild engraver, and smaller presses. In addition to the printing of the Hornet, the Print Shop did the bulk of the college printing jobs.

In this shot, an FJC student operates an electric soldering iron.

Under the direction of Robert McCormick, FJC students enrolled in construction courses continued to build a new model house each year. Rather than showcase the house on campus, this 1960 furnished model home was moved to the Orangefair Shopping Center in Fullerton, where it was viewed by over 7,000 visitors, and then auctioned off. The three-bedroom, 1,200-square-foot house was designed by Bob Simons of Anaheim and completed by 200 students enrolled in seven construction management courses. The home featured a Wedgewood Holly built-in range and oven, a Nu-tone kitchen fan, a built-in Insinc-erator disposal unit, and sliding patio glass doors. Twenty-three businesses in the Orange County-Los Angeles area contributed both materials and services to complete those phases which would normally not have been part of a student construction project. FJC students continued to build a house a year during the 1960s. As housing styles changed, the students built dwellings in different designs, including a Polynesian-styled dwelling in 1966, which sold for $5,500,

For the 25th anniversary in 1964, Teresa Norris modeled this new coiffure created in the Cosmetology Department. When the Cosmetology Department started, it consisted of one instructor, 13 students, one classroom, one wash-basin, and towels borrowed from the gymnasium. By 1964, the department had 100 students and a staff of seven instructors. In addition to theory courses, students spent 1,600 hours in actual practice.

Starting in the 1950s, FJC participated in Bill of Rights Week, making displays pertaining to the first Ten Amendments of the United States Constitution. In 1962, the Hornet Christian Fellowship won first place for an exhibit on freedom of religion.

In 1960, FJC received the George Washington Honor Medal for its Bill of Rights displays from the Freedoms Foundation at Valley Forge, a national nonprofit educational organization founded in 1949.

The campus continued with its biennial Open House. For the May 5, 1961 Open House, there were over fifty exhibits and demonstrations, including a half-hour demonstration illustrating modern math, diving and synchronized swimming in the pool, and folk, modern, and square dancing in the gymnasium. Medical assistants also tested people for their blood types.

In this 1960 shot, 3rd grade students on a field trip from Raymond School pose next to the Hornet Statue. (Photo Courtesy of John C. Hall.)

The annual Christmas Concert in the Plummer Auditorium remained popular in the 1960s.

Also popular was the nativity scene set up in front of the Administration Building each year. Sponsored by the Young Farmers’ Association, it was lit every night until school was dismissed for Christmas vacation. A Christmas tree was also set up and decorated in the Student Center each year. In 1962, the freshly cut Christmas tree was replaced with an aluminum one that was unboxed each year.

Starting in 1957, the Associated Women Students (AWS) selected female students who were outstanding in ten areas: appearance, poise, scholarship, dependability, extracurricular activities, friendliness, leadership, good character, good manners, and campus citizenship. At the formal affair honoring these women, Women of Distinction, there was a processional in which those selected were presented to the audience, and one honoree was selected as Woman of the Year. In this 1962 photo, Colleen O’Brien, sophomore class treasurer, is presented as a Woman of Distinction. The final winner was home economics major Linda Cosgriff, who won on the basis of scholastic record, school service, and leadership. The processional was held in the Men’s Gymnasium, with refreshments and dancing taking place afterwards in the Student Center.

At the same time, the Associated Men Students (AMS) similarly conceived the idea of an award that would honor the top men on campus. The Greek letters Mo Omicon Delta were adopted to represent “Men of Distinction.” Twenty-five men were selected for their academic achievement, club activities, college service, and athletics. Each award winner was presented with a gold Mu Omicon Delta key and an engraved certificate signifying membership in this exclusive group. These are the FJC Men of Distinction for 1961.

During the 1960s, much of the activity on campus was still centered on clubs, but as social concerns became more prominent with college students, interest in these groups declined during the 1960s and 1970s. Clubs came and went in this decade, and by December 1969, there were 35 active clubs on campus. Members of service clubs were required to devote ten hours of service each month. While club members did contribute to many social activities, there were also fund collecting for needy families, food drives, and other community-oriented projects. Jobs were plentiful in the 1960s and vocational clubs were particularly popular: Professional Nurses, Future Teachers, Dental Assistants, Medical Assistants, Young Farmers, etc. New clubs were started, including the Swim Club in 1960 and the Usherettes in 1961/62, whose members were called upon almost every week to serve at school functions. The first president of this new service organization was Sherrill Stalker (first row, second from left).

Both the Young Republicans and Young Democrats Clubs were formed in 1960. Gordon C. Redmond won the Young Republicans photo contest with this shot of Walter Knott addressing the group in 1960.
Knott (1889-1981), who created Knott’s Berry Farm in Buena Park, spoke on “the issues before young voters.” The two political clubs existed peaceably until 1965, when the Young Republicans issued a volatile report accusing the Young Democrats of “using school and club money” to support “a representative of a communist-front organization.” The Young Democrats had posted signage around the campus for a February 22, 1965 speech by the Reverend Fred Shuttleworth, President of the Southern Conference Education Fund, an arm of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, the civil rights group led by Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. The SCEF was listed in the House Committee on Un-American Activities Guide to Subversive Organizations and Publications (1951), and the Young Republicans believed that Shuttleworth was infiltrating the campus. The headline for the April 30, 1965 Hornet was: “Republican Charges Young Demos Back Commie Front.”

An October 1960 poll of FJC night students, reported in the October 17, 1960 issue of NiteTimes, showed that Richard Nixon had a slight edge over John F. Kennedy in the Presidential election. Out of 404 people questioned, 212 selected Nixon and Lodge, and 186, Kennedy and Johnson. The poll disclosed that foreign students leaned more toward Kennedy, with older students leaning toward Nixon-Lodge. The majority of faculty members interviewed favored the Democrats. Alvin the Chipmunk and Alfred E. Neuman each received one vote. A poll taken at the same time of Fullerton Union High School students found a pro-Nixon stronghold, with the Vice-President leading four to one.

In the 1960s, campaigners for political candidates came to the campus for the first time. In this 1968 shot, a member of the Young Democrats tries to drum up support for 1968 Presidential candidate Hubert H. Humphrey (1911-1978), who lost to Richard M. Nixon.

The Amateur Radio Club, open to all students interested in amateur radio communication, was reorganized in the Fall of 1961 after eight years of inactivity. The Club participated in Bill of Rights Week on the campus, sending off a radio-telegram to President John F. Kennedy, who replied with a letter of appreciation. Gordon Loomis (first row, far left) was president in 1961.

The most notable international student in the 1960s was Keith Porter, born in Hornchurch, Essex, England, thirty miles outside of London. In 1960, Porter, then a 22-year old economics major, was elected Vice-President of the Associated Student Body, becoming the first foreign student to win a major post in FJC student government since a Canadian student was elected ASB president in 1955. At the May 24, 1961 Men of Distinction Banquet, he was voted Man of the Year.

Organized in the Fall of 1961 as an outgrowth of the Student Christian Organization, the Hornet Christian Fellowship offered a chance for FJC students to worship together. Weekly attendance quickly grew to well over fifty. The club sponsored Christian literature for the College Library, and enjoyed a number of social activities, including special dinners, ice skating, and bowling parties.

The Campus Crusade for Christ, an interdenominational Christian organization that promotes evangelism, started on campus in 1967/68. The organization was started on the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) campus in 1951. Other religious clubs started during this period, both in 1969, included the Latter Day Saints Club and the Christian World Liberation Front, which planned to participate in the Billy Graham crusade.

Bob Hawkes, a member of the Olympia Men’s Club, guides a little red wagon during the half-time activities of the World University Service Powder Puff Derby in 1963. In the past, members of the club also went house-to-house selling Olympic decals to raise funds for the 1954 Tokyo Olympics, erected Olympic displays, and sponsored an Olympic night on campus.

In 1960, members of the Political Science Club spearheaded the largest delegation attending the National Mock Democratic Nominating Convention, held April 23, 1960 at Los Angeles State College, with Fullerton representing eight different states. Members of the delegation are Phil Nelson (Washington, D.C.), George Beekman (Kentucky), and Jim Ply (Puerto Rico). Seated are Dorothy Beckman, Lorraine Ply, and Larry Yount. FJC had the largest delegation attending the event.

In this 1962 photo, the Hornet Knights show off their Mardi Gras float as it moves down Berkeley Avenue. Formed in 1941, the Knights provided service and aided at rallies and athletic events, such as selling tickets and organizing pep sessions. By the early1960s, the Hornet Knights were the largest group on campus, but the organization was disaffiliated for hazing incidents later in the decade.

Fraternities and sororities remained popular as well. In this 1968 photo, two Beta Phi Gamma members advertise a car rally.

In this September 1961 shot, members of Kappa Lambda Sigma participate in a car wash fundraiser (held from 11:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m.) in the FJC parking lot. The price for a car wash was 75 cents.

This is another shot of Kappa Lambda Sigma members posing before a football game

Students would gather at the end of the school year for a yearbook signing party. This is the 1968 signing parting. A hardback copy of the yearbook was sold for $1.00 to Associated Student Body (ASB) members, and $4.00 to all others. In 1959, the decision was made by journalism students not to publish a single hardback yearbook at the end of the school year, but rather to issue a series of Torch magazines throughout the year. The yearbook switched between these two formats for a number of years before returning solely to the hardback version.

The 1960 winner of the Torch photography prize was Raoul Robles for this shot of the Associated Men Students (AMS) carrying Santa Ana Junior College’s coffin during a Homecoming parade.

Building a coffin for a football opponent was a popular activity each year. This one was built for the defeat of Orange Coast College.

Drawn by Don Robertson, this was voted Cartoon of the Year for 1961.

While school was in session, every Thursday just before 11:00 a.m., streams of FJC students would head to Plummer Auditorium for College Hour. Each semester the College Hour Commission selected speakers, musical groups, as well as talented FJC students, to perform or make presentations at the 11:00 a.m. hour. No classes were offered so that students could take advantage of the programs, which were free to all ASB card holders.

The first College Hour entertainers for the 1965 Fall Semester were the Dillards (Dean Webb, Douglas Dillard, Mitchell Jayne, and Rodney Dillard, left to right), a popular bluegrass group, who performed on September 28, 1965 to a packed house. The Dillards were one of the first bluegrass groups to have electrified their instruments in the mid-1960s. At the start of the 1960s, rock music was banned on campus, and many students complained about the continual “old men” music programs at FJC. Eventually that ban was lifted, and such popular groups as the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band, the Sunshine Company, and Poco performed.

Prior to the November 1960 Presidential election, members of the day and night student newspaper staff interviewed candidate Richard M. Nixon at the California Newspaper Publishers Convention Installation Luncheon, held at the Statler Hotel in Los Angeles on Saturday, February 6, 1960. The interview was published in the February 23, 1960 issue of Nite Times.

One of the 1964/65 speakers at College Hour was Ronald Reagan (1911-2004) before he served as the Governor of California and the 40th President of the United States. Reagan’s March 11, 1965 visit with FJC students was cordial and respectful, but a later visit he made to CSU Fullerton on February 3, 1970 was particularly acrimonious. At one point, the Governor told his harassers to “shut up.” Other speakers and performers at the College Hour during the 1960s included jazz drummer Shelly Manne, Olympic athlete Rafer Johnson, the gospel Clara Ward Singers, and humorists Richard Armour and Victor Borge.

The Artist-Lecture series also continued in the 1960s. Here is William F. Buckley (1925-2008), television commentator, editor of the National Review, and leader of a team of conservative writers in America, speaking in 1966. The topic of his speech was “American Politics and the Conservative Movement.” Other speakers included David Susskind (1920-1987), Eric Fromm (1900-1980), Edward Teller (1908-2003), and Wernher von Braun (1912-1977). A number of notable actors—Charles Laughton, Vincent Price, and Hal Holbrook—also spoke, read from works of literature, and portrayed famous Americans.

Both Associated Women Students (AWS) and Associated Men Students (AMS) also put on special programs for students. On October 18, 21, and 27, 1960, Mrs. Florence Smales spoke to women students on the importance of charm, discussing the need for personality and grooming.

Early in the Fall of 1962, the Associated Women Students presented their Mother-Daughter Tea. The co-eds and mothers were guests at two separate fashion shows, with harp music played during intermission. Here Ruth Copeland serves punch to the mothers and their daughters.

The FJC band also continued to perform at events, including this parade down Harbor Boulevard in 1960.

On Friday, May 11, 1962, a crowd estimated at 10,000 showed up at Orange County State College (now CSU Fullerton) for the First Annual Intercollegiate Elephant Race. Fifteen colleges and universities filed entries, and elephants were rented for $200 a day from a Thousand Oaks animal farm. William Langsdorf, Orange County State College President, offered the organizers a barley field for the race site called Dumbo Downs. The elephants competed in four main events: sprinting, flag race, obstacle race, and carrying a pail of water the entire length of the field. Because FJC was a “junior” college, a baby elephant named Debbie was entered, capturing second place in the baby elephant division. Debbie is shown here between FJC students John Lindsay (left) and Bob Wagner (right), Associated Student Body President. The sweepstakes winner was the Harvard University entry, the four-ton Sonita.

Members of the FJC Veterans Club, wearing an elephant costume, also showed up at the race. (Courtesy of the CSU Fullerton Library.)

FJC held informal frog jumping contests, but on May 15, 1962, over 1,000 students packed the gymnasium for the First Annual Junior College Frog Jumping Contest. Students donned jungle helmets and carried flags to cheer their favorites on to victory. Each frog was allowed three jumps. The winner was Taylakey, a Hornet Knights’ sponsored entry, who jumped 6 feet, 9 inches to victory. The winner in May 1965 was Priscilla Van Horn (kneeling).

Donkeys were brought in for a 1963 students versus faculty donkey basketball game.

As enrollment at FJC continued to rise, “get acquainted events” for the Freshman class continued to be very popular. Before classes ever began at FJC, commissioners were hard at work planning a series of events for new arrivals. New students started their college lives beginning with the annual Freshman Breakfast where they were introduced to student body leaders, followed by a number of fun events, including rallies, an all school playnight, and a pizza party.

In 1961, one of the most popular new freshman events was a roller skating party at the Merrilark Skating Rink in Fullerton (621 North Gilbert Avenue). Here a male student helps another new student with her skates.

While clubs and organizations on campus had always sponsored female candidates for Homecoming Queen, the competition grew very competitive in the 1960s, with the Veterans Club candidates winning most elections. Fraternities, sororities, and clubs would create elaborate booths to showcase their candidates. In 1963, the Olympia Men’s Club paraded around campus with a Trojan horse and ocelot to drum up votes for their queen and princess candidates. The Olympians supported Jackie Nolton for queen, and the wooden horse was constructed in the Nolton family backyard, then transported to FJC in a large truck.

In 1963, the Hornet Knights created a hillbilly booth, Smedley Hole.

In 1964, Veterans Club members built this landlocked but colorful river steamer to draw crowds and votes in their attempt to place the crown on their candidate for Homecoming Queen.

Before an FJC student could be selected as Homecoming Queen, she had to fill out a petition listing the names of fifty students advocating her candidacy. Generally, the most important move was to find a campus club to financially back her. It was customary for each club or group to run one co-ed for Queen and one for Princess. After the booths were created and banners displayed, the candidates were formally presented to the students at an assembly provided just for that purpose, and immediately afterwards, the polls were open. Homecoming elections were held for two days.

After the Homecoming Queen was selected, she and her court were driven through Fullerton. In this 1962 shot, Queen Jacque Cothran (first convertible) is being driven through Amerige Park on Commonwealth Avenue with her entourage. The Homecoming Parade that year started in Amerige Park, followed a route to downtown Fullerton, and stopped at the FJC parking lot. A sociology major and a part-time model, Cothran had been Homecoming Queen at La Habra High School, Miss La Habra, and a runner-up to Miss California in 1961. She was one of a number of candidates sponsored by the Veterans Club in the 1960s. Many of the Queen candidates were song or yell leaders, and a significant number of the women were previous beauty contest winners: Miss Orange, Miss Orange County, Miss Sioux City, Miss Marine Buyer Guide, Miss Navy League, Brea’s Girl of the Year, etc. Others were finalists in state beauty competitions. As the decade went on, there was increased criticism that the Homecoming Queen competition had become just another professional beauty pageant.

Posing with British actor Basil Rathbone (1892-1967) is 1963 Homecoming Queen Janis Miller, who reigned over the Homecoming Game and Dance on November 15 and 16. A graduate of Sunny Hills High School, Miller was an FJC song leader and commercial art major. Rathbone, a world renowned actor best known for playing Sherlock Holmes in fourteen Hollywood films between 1939 and 1946, was there as Homecoming speaker. The 1963 Homecoming marked FJC’s first televised football game, and it was the first time that the Queen and her court were presented “live” before a television audience.

Homecoming Queen for 1964 was Christine Jaich (right), 45th Homecoming Queen, who was sponsored by the Hornet Knights. The football game and half-time activities were televised in 1964, so Jaich was seen by a vast viewing audience as well as by the crowd in the football stadium.

This is Homecoming Queen Christine Jaich and her attendants on their Hearts of Love parade float, each wearing a formal evening gown and elbow length white gloves.

The Hornet Knights walked off with not only the Sweepstakes Trophy, but also the President’s Trophy for this St. George and the Dragon float in the 1962 Homecoming Parade. The 15-foot dragon spewed gas from its mouth while Bob Vandesande fought the napkin-filled beast.

Each year Fullerton Junior College joined the seven other member schools of the Eastern Conference—
Chaffey, Citrus, Mt. San Antonio, Orange Coast, Riverside, Santa Ana, and San Bernardino—at the Eastern Conference Dance. The theme for this dance, Cupid’s Caper, was reflected in the decorations that adorned the Hollywood Palladium, where the dance was held on February 12, 1962, 9:00 p.m. to 1:00 a.m. The highlight of each Eastern Conference Dance was presentation of the Homecoming Queen from each college. FJC’s queen, Mary Ann Beacock, is seated at the table wearing a white dress and her crown.

In addition to the Homecoming Dances, formal and informal dances remained popular with FJC students. This is a photo of a semi-formal dance held in the gymnasium in 1960.

The FJC Dress Code did not allow female students to wear capris, so the Hornet Knights sponsored an off-campus Capri Caper dance in 1960. Showing off their legs and fancy capris are Kirby Martin, Ann Celentano, Tom Stoddard, and Priscilla Chaney (left to right).

This is a 1962 Superstition Stag dance. The “superstition” came from the fact that the dance was held on Friday the 13th.

The highlight of the 1962 Spring Formal, held at the Beverly Hilton’s Grand Ballroom, was the performance by the Lettermen, who sang their big hit, “The Way You Look Tonight.” The popular vocal trio consisted of Jim Pike, Tony Butala, and Bob Engemann (left to right).

On December 14, 1962, the Pasadena Civic Auditorium was converted into a winter wonderland for the annual Christmas Formal. FJC students and their guests danced to the 13-piece band of Marshall Cram around a 20-foot white Christmas tree.

The noon dances remained popular. During the late 1950s and early1960s, there were a number of dance crazes that swept the country, including the twist, the mashed potato, the chicken, the Watusi, the Popeye, the alligator, the pony, the yo-yo, and the jerk, and the noon dances were the place to learn these new dance moves. The students would dance to the latest records, but, on occasion, a local live band would be brought in to play. A number of the bands, such as the all-girl group The Ladybirds, who appeared in March 1966, were composed of FJC students. By 1965, students from other schools were showing up uninvited to both the noon dances and scheduled dances. FJC students would often loan out their No. 6 cards to outsiders and door guards would let them into the dance. To keep outsiders away from the noon dances, they were rescheduled from 11:00 a.m. to noon.

One of the most popular fads in the early 1960s was a luau or Hawaiian-themed party. For the April 27, 1962 FJC luau, co-eds dressed in colorful muu-muus and sarongs while men were clad in Bermuda shorts. As the evening progressed, a dance was held in the Student Center.

In the 1960s, at the height of the folk music era in popular music, hootenannies were very popular. These three students are performing folk songs at a hootenanny held in the Student Center in 1964. A hootenanny was an informal performance by folk singers which typically involved audience participation.

Music was very popular on campus, and during the 1960s, became a social and cultural expression for students. During the folk era, students would often gather together on campus while an FJC student performed. Guitar playing and folk singing became so popular that students and faculty near the front quad area complained about the noise, prompting the campus to limit these activities to the north patio area next to the Hive, the bookstore, and the north end of the Student Center.

Tim Buckley (1947-1975) briefly attended Fullerton College in 1965, dropping out to concentrate on his music career. One of the great rock vocalists of the 1960s, Buckley drew from folk, rock, psychedelia, funk, and progressive jazz to create an influential body of music. He did not have commercial success during his lifetime, overdosing on drugs at the young age of 28, but his influence as a singer and musician is still felt today. In 2002, friend and fellow musician Lee Underwood published a biography of Buckley, Blue Melody: Tim Buckley Remembered.

After graduating from Sunny Hills High School in 1966, singer/songwriter Jackson Browne attended Fullerton Junior College, where he wrote songs sitting under the magnolia trees on the campus Quad. His debut album was released by David Geffen’s Asylum Records in 1972, and he would go on to have a brilliant career as a songwriter. He was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2004, and the Songwriter’s Hall of Fame in 2007. Jackson came back to perform at FJC in 1974, and his reminiscences about campus life were published in the January 18, 1974 issue of The Hornet.

Rock music became so popular during this era that the Hornet would interview musicians, list clubs where certain groups were playing, and announce new albums that were being released. Because rock music was banned on campus, a popular activity was attending concerts at local venues, including Melodyland, the Glendale Ice House, and the Paradox Club (225 South Tustin) in Orange. In the May 19, 1963 issue of the Hornet, an advertisement announced the opening of the Rhythm Room (218 West Commonwealth), “Fullerton’s own young adult night club.” Open Fridays and Saturdays from 7:00 p.m. to 2:00 a.m. (admission was $1.50), high school and college students would rock out to various bands. Purchased by Eddie Davis and Ed Cardenas, who hoped to develop a Chicano or Mexican American sound similar to Motown, the Rhythm Room was also a rehearsal spot and recording studio. In the Spring of 1965, Cannibal and the Headhunters recorded their classic “Land of a Thousand Dances” at the Rhythm Room, which is now the location of the Fullerton Civic Light Opera (pictured in the photo). FJC students also began seeking out art house films during this decade, and a popular place for viewing underground films was the Guild Art Theatre in Santa Ana.

On Monday, November 14, 1966, FJC students, staff, and faculty arrived on campus to find yellow and white toilet paper hanging from trees and buildings. Students from San Bernardino Valley College were discovered as the culprits, and officials from that junior college agreed to pay the clean-up bill.

While the Civil Rights and Women’s Rights Movements were taking place in this decade, a number of FJC events and programs lacked cultural sensitivity. For the April 15, 1961 annual Spring Sing competition, the Hornet Knights captured third place for their blackface version of “Ol’ Man River” from Showboat. Taking a cue from American minstrel shows, popular after the Civil War, “The Minstrels” was the theme of the Hornet Knights’ act.

On April 6, 1962, Denver Garner (left), Speech instructor, sold female student Jacque Cothran (center) to Tom Erwin (right) as part of a fundraiser “slave auction” held in the Student Center. The “slaves” could only carry books, talk, and eat lunch with their buyers for two days. Nothing else could be asked, and if at any time the buyers said or did something displeasing or unpleasant to the slaves, the slaves would be released from bondage.

In 1960, Hugh Hefner started a chain of nightclubs, Playboy Clubs, owned and operated by Playboy Enterprises. The clubs featured attractive Playboy Bunnies, dressed in skimpy bunny costumes, serving food and drinks. In tribute to the Playboy lifestyle, FJC Veterans Club members sponsored an annual Playboy Dance where an FJC student was selected as a Playmate of the Year. In this February 1960 photo, President Ted Browne presents a stuffed bunny to FJC Playmate winner Linda Mills. Later Playmates of the Year candidates were sponsored by clubs on campus.

The Playboy Dances featured a special Playmate Punch created just for the event.

In the late 1960s, mini-skirt competitions became popular on campus, particularly with male students. This is 1969 mini-skirt contest winner Sue Schneider. As women students began to move into fields and professions traditionally held by men, campus events like the Playboy Dance and mini-skirt contests appeared sexist and inappropriate, and programs like these were no longer scheduled.

In a sign of the times, the “Little Man on Campus” ended a seven-year run on page two of the Hornet in September 1969 because of the comic strip’s sexist and frat house overtones. In the decade to follow, the role and perception of women on campus was to greatly change.

FJC had one of its best decades for sports in the 1960s, achieving athletic heights that it had never attained before in its history. In 1959, the FJC Athletic Department was faced with the difficult problem of replacing the most successful basketball coach in the College’s history, Alex Omalev. Coach William (Bill) Mann came to FJC in 1960 with an impressive record coaching basketball. Born in Prescott, Arizona, Mann attended Tucson High School and graduated from the University of Arizona in 1949. He began coaching that same year at North Phoenix High School, followed by Weber Junior College in Ogden, Utah, where he coached his team to a conference title.

Bill Mann quickly led the Hornets to the State championship, directing FJC to the most successful basketball record in the College’s history with a 32-2 win-loss record. Mann was later recruited by the University of Arizona, and was replaced by Coach Claude Retherford for the 1963/64 season.

The new football coach for the 1961 season was Harold E. “Hal” Sherbeck. After graduating from the University of Montana in 1952 with a degree in health and physical education, Sherbeck traveled to Big Sidney, Montana (population 800) to accept the head football coaching job for Missoula County High School where his teams won three state championships. Then in 1956, he went back to the University of Montana where he became assistant football and basketball coach. In 2009, the College named the practice facility for both the track and football teams to Hal Sherbeck Field. Sherbeck was also honored with a street name (Sherbeck Lane) in a small housing development across the street from Golden West College in Huntington Beach, along with other FJC coaches.

Hal Sherbeck took the Hornet football team to new heights, winning the Eastern Conference from 1964 to 1967, the State championship in1967, and the National championship in 1965, 1966, and 1967. At one point, the Hornets had a string of forty games without a loss. In 1965, the J.C. Grid-Wire rated the Hornets as the number one junior college football team in the nation. During this period, FJC football games were televised for the first time.

Hal Sherbeck's 1967 National Championship football team poses for this memorial photo.

Under Coach Jim Bush, the Hornet track team won the Eastern Conference championship in 1960, the first victory in twenty years for the Hornets. By 1961, FJC had one of the greatest junior college track teams ever assembled, breaking a total of 53 records, 5 of them national. This is a photo of the Hornet State championship track team in 1961.

The Hornet 440-yard relay team ranked as the top relay team in the nation. In 1961, the four-man four-mile relay team, consisting of Chuck Baer, Jan Underwood, Harry McCalla, and Leroy Neal, set a national relay mark by running the four miles in 17:22:5. Coach Jim Bush stands between Leroy Neal (left) and Harry McCalla (right).

Under Coach Tom Tellez, members of the 1963 cross country team were required to run twenty hills a day. In this snapshot, team members are running through nearby Hillcrest Park.

For the first time in FJC history, the tennis team took home the State crown in May 1967. Coach Jim Moore’s netters proudly display the State tennis crown. Pictured with Moore (standing) are (left to right) Charlie Jurva, Mike Woodard, and Eric Joachim.

After an eleven-year absence, the Hornet swim team won the Eastern Conference championship in April 1967. Three of the Hornet top swimmers were Wayne Cowie, 400 medley relay champion, Aubrey Miller, 200 backstroke champion, and John Mattos, 100 breaststroke leader. These men were the backbone of Coach Ernie Polte’s team.

In December 1969, Fullerton’s water polo squad captured the State championship, scoring two goals in the last 18 seconds of the title match. In this shot, Coach Ernie Polte poses with his championship team. The starters were, clockwise from bottom, Trey Reish, Kris Cook, John Poznanter, Fred Belcher, Greg Bunker, Dave Heard, and Terry Klein.

In May 1969, FJC golfers captured second place at the Junior College Golf Championship held at the San Luis Rey and Fallbrook golf courses near San Marcos. Golf stars Hank Woodrome (left) and Brian Ash display their winning form.

In their first year of competition, FJC wrestlers compiled a season record of seven wins, five loses, and one tie in 1962. These are the members of FJC’s first wrestling team. Bottom row, left to right are Jerry Garrity, Jim Shubin, Dave Hollinger, Fred Schubbert, Bill Does, Ernest Ullery, and Coach Oran Breeland. In the top row, left to right are Bill Squibb, John Armstrong, Rhahim Javanmard, Lon Records, Bruce Jones, and Dave Hunt.

Scuba diving was added as a new sport during the 1960s. To qualify for the class, neophyte frogmen had to pass a swimming skills and endurance test.

Before being drafted by the St. Louis Cardinals, Al Hrabosky was a star baseball player for the Hornets in the 1960s. Nicknamed “The Mad Hungarian” for the way he worked himself up prior to each game, he was considered one of the best relief pitchers in the game, earning the National League Reliever of the Year award in 1975. In addition to the Cardinals, Hrabosky played for the Kansas City Royals and Atlanta Braves before retiring in 1982. After retiring, he embarked on a second career as a sportscaster for a St. Louis television station.

Co-ed intercollegiate badminton and tennis were available to FJC students. This is the 1961 FJC mixed doubles badminton team.

This is the 1961 FJC mixed doubles tennis team.

In this photo taken c.1967, UCLA played the Hornets. In the background, Lew Alcindor (Kareem Abdul-Jabbar) can be seen with the basketball.

Women athletics were also competitive winners during the 1960s. In this 1965 shot, members of FJC’s winning Southern California Junior College Championship basketball team practice for an upcoming game. The Women’s Athletic Association (WAA) offered activities open to all women students with an ASB card. Sports included volleyball, basketball, hockey, tennis, dance, and swimming, but the female athletes during this decade did not have the funding and opportunities open to male athletes. All of that was to change in 1972 with the passage of Title XV of the Education Amendments of 1972 that amended Title IX of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which gave equal footing to women in college sports. The WAA also oversaw dance classes and presented an annual dance concert open to the public.

FJC majorettes, flag twirlers, song leaders, and cheerleaders were called upon to perform regularly at pep rallies and athletic events. The two majorettes for 1962/63 were Nancy Cate and Clara Moore.

In 1963/64, the flag twirlers (left to right) were Nina Tapscott and Cathy Moreno.